Shadow
by Piro the Renagade writer
Summary: Farewell my shadow, you who stand at the end of the path I chose not to follow... But is that statement really true? Ch. 4 now up! Tubular!
1. A new journey

Welcome to another exciting episode of…

PIRO'S RANDOM SPUR OF THE MOMENT FAN FIC!

Yeah, it seems like I'm making lots of those lately…

This may be the first fic I ever take incredibly seriously. Lots…and I mean LOTS of angst in this one. So much it'll make you cry…well…maybe not cry, but feel sad for the main character.

WARNING! SPOILERS APLENTY!

On with da show!

**Shadow ch. 1**

_Farewell my shadow, you who stand at the end of the path I chose not to follow..._

It had been 5 weeks since Lloyd Irving and Colette Brunell had begun their new journey to collect all the expheres in the new world. Unfortunately for Lloyd, the sands of Triet dessert had become even broader, and more ferocious.

"Damn it, doesn't this sand ever let up?" Lloyd asked angrily to no one in particular. Triet dessert seemed to be working against them and putting up sand storms all the time they were there. "Colette, could you check the map? How much further is Triet?"

"Umm…" the small, former chosen checked the map of the new world, "about 10 more miles!" she yelled to Lloyd through the sound of the howling winds.

"Grrr…we have to set up camp for the night!" Lloyd yelled back, "If we don't we'll never get there in time."

Lloyd had some difficulty setting up the tent, and the 90 or so mile per hour winds weren't helping.

"Here, Lloyd, let me help," Colette's voice came, very muffled from behind her scarf. She went forward to help her companion, but, farther from making things better, she made them worse. She tripped, fell, and accidentally knocked the unmade tent out of Lloyd's hands, making it fly into the distance, enveloped by the sand.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry Lloyd!" Colette said in her usual demeanor of constant apologizing.

Lloyd just looked into the distance where the tent had flown off, and said, "No, it's fine. Let's keep moving."

After about 2 hours of walking, they found Triet. The sand storm had still not calmed. No one was out in the town square at the time of their arrival. The two could barely walk anymore, but found enough strength to walk to the door of the inn and go in.

"One room for just the night please," Lloyd gasped at the receptionist, handing over the proper amount of gald.

"Sand storm get ya?" the receptionist asked Lloyd, "Well, as long as you're here, you're safe. Have a nice night!"

"Thanks," Lloyd said to the receptionist.

They both walked upstairs, used the key to there room, and walked in. It looked just the same as it always did when Lloyd and his friends stopped there on their journey of regeneration. The comfy looking beds, the usual potted plant on a table.

"Lloyd," Colette began, but Lloyd stopped her.

"Listen, Colette, It's just a tent. As long as we get to Ossa Trail tomorrow, then we'll be fine. Then we can move on to Izoold so we can get a boat to Hiemdall (A.N. the worlds are united remember?) to ask the Elves if they have any Expheres."

Travel was not very easy for the two as Yuan made them both give back their Rhieards, and the EC was currently at the Elemental Research Facility. They had to make due with what they had, namely Noishe.

"Okay," Colette said in sort of a saddened tone as she undid the bag they had that housed their supplies. She counted all the Expheres within, "Twenty-nine, only about 300 more to go!" Collete informed Lloyd in a mock joyfull tone.

Lloyd laughed and sat on his bed. "Well, I'm gonna hit the sack, what about you?" he asked Collete. Colette said she would go to bead in a while. Lloyd smiled and said, "Okay, just don't stay up too late."

Lloyd then instantly fell into a deep sleep, some drool oozing from his mouth. Collete chuckled at her friend and left the room so Lloyd could slumber peacefully. The only reason she had stayed awake was because she wanted to see the Fortune-Teller about something. The small former Chosen walked out the door with her scarf over her mouth. The sandstorm had still not let up and it was hard enough to look five feet in front of her. Twice she almost fell into the small watering hole near the Fortune-Teller tent. She eventually made it to the tent and went straight up to the fortune teller.

"Something troubles you young maiden," the fortune teller said in a mistical voice, "A dream perhaps?"

Collete gasped. She knew the fortune teller was good but not THAT good. "Ummm...yeah. I've been having a dream for quite a while now. It always starts with the face of...an enemy coming straight at me, saying that my greatest friend would become like him eventually."

"Hmmm...I see. What does this enemy look like? Blonde hair, blue eyes?"

"Yes! How did you-?"

"And wings like an angel?"

Collete gasped again. How did she know?

The fortune teller laughed, "No need to be alarmed child. My inner eye can see all, but all of your deepest darkest secrets are kept away from me. Don't worry, the innere eye can not see that much," The Seer laughed again.

"It's not that," Collete began, "It's the fact that you were right. The enemy in my dreams does have wings of an angel. Yet he is not what bothers me. It is his message. My dearest friend was the one who defeated him, and I don't want Lloy-I mean my friend to be like that."

"You have nothing to worry about child," the Seer stated, "Dreams are often inderect messages. In your case, the message is that you are worried about your friend and worried of what he thinks of you. Don't worry, you are normal."

"Okay," Collete said pulling out her money bag.

"Oh no no no," the Seer told Collete, "This one is on the house child."

"Thanks!...And I'm sorry for bothering you in the middle of the night."

"No problem! Just remember, it's all in your head."

Collete walked out of the tent. The sand storm seemed to have calmed down. She walked slowly to the inn and walked upstairs, getting in her own bed.

_I hope you'll be okay Lloyd..._

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Cool! I'm done! Well this chapter didn't have any angst, but the next few will have plenty! Now that school is out I can focus more on my fan fics. I hope I didn't go too OOC with Collete. Expect the next chapter next week or the week after. Till then,

PeAcE!


	2. Loss

Yay...second chapter. Whoopdy-frikkedy-do. I'm just gonna start it. No author notes this time.

**Shadow ch. 2**

_"He will become me when the time comes." _

_"No! He'd never be like you!" _

_"Really now? Would the Lloyd you know kill his friends and let his father die? I think not!" _

_Colette looked to her right and saw 6 dead bodies. Two of them had white hair and slightly pointed ears. One of them had jet black hair that was wearing a purple robe. One of them had red vivid hair in a pink and white outfit, the blood staining some of the white. Another had pink hair with ponytails on each side of her head. Still another had blue hair and was wearing shackles. And there was a figure standing over them, swords drawn, blood staining his brown hair, and cold remorseless fury in his eyes. _

_"Now Colette, it is your turn to die!" _

_The voice no longer came from Colette's own mind, but from her best friend's mouth. Lloyd raised his swords, looked at Colette and said, "I always hated you!" And brought the swords down..._

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Colette woke with a start. There was that dream again. But this time was different. In her past nightmares Lloyd and the others were not there, her friends were not lying on the ground dead and mangled, and Lloyd did not have those cold eyes...those hateful eyes...

Colette looked around and immediately saw Lloyd, sleeping like a baby, drool coming slightly from his mouth. Colette stared at her friend for a long time.

Sunrise came. So did Lloyd's waking. Colette pretended to have been sleeping too.

"mornin' Colette," Lloyd yawned tiredly, "how did you sleep?"

"Oh...um...good!" Colette lied looking down, "Um...shouldn't we get going? It's a long way to Ossa trail."

"Oh yeah! C'mon, let's pack up our stuff and get outta here!" Lloyd said, enthusiastic as always.

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Lloyd's enthusiasm for the trip, however, came down as soon as he discovered that the sand storms had not stopped over the night. Another brutal trek across the desert did nothing for their status. Luckily, they made it to Ossa trail in time. Well, they got there before the sun went down, let's just say that.

Ossa trail was not very big. maybe 1 or 2 miles in length. And, hey! No sand storms! The two companions were chatting when they found it.

It was the most horrifying scene Lloyd had ever saw. He was looking at a charred and destroyed body. But this wasn't just any body, it was his father's body...Kratos' body.

Lloyd didn't know what to say. He looked at his father's body with sadness and confusion. Millions of questions raced through Lloyd's head at once. How did this happen? Why did this happen? Where did he come from?

This whole time Colette had watched her friend weep. She was equally shocked. What he said in her dream _"He let his father die" _was this a sign that the dream was coming true? No. It couldn't be.

Lloyd weeped for a long time. When he finally stopped he dug up a 6 feet below ground hole, then dumped his father's remains in it. There was no funeral services for miles, so this was the best funeral he could give.

The gravestone had only five words on it: Companion. Traitor. Angel. Father. Friend.

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Wow...pretty short and annoying chapter. It took a toll on my precious Saturday! Well, I hope you all liked it. This chapter will tie in with an upcoming fanfic of mine. Or maybe I'll just make it a different chapter in this story. I dunno, but till then...

PeAcE!


	3. Some old pals AKA silly chapter

LONG HIATUS IS OVAH!

My writing spur has not yet died! And since I have no real writer's notes this time, I shall go, uncermoniously, into the story!

**Shadow ch. 3**

It was the morning after. The impact of Kratos' death seemed to hit Lloyd with extreme grief. _Perhaps he thought it was his own fault_ Colette thought while staring into her best friend's eyes. For Lloyd had just looked straight ahead while walking the rest of Ossa Trail and on the way to Izoold, Colette estimated about 20 miles of silence. She tried to start conversation about 5 miles from Izoold, but Lloyd just gave her a venomous look, and she abandoned her attempt right away.

It was strange, Colette was not shocked about Kratos' death at all. On the contrary, it was almost as though she expected it. But then there was that dream. She forced herself not to think about it, but to no avail. She was so disturbed by the image of Lloyd brandishing his swords and striking her down that she almost considered telling Lloyd about it. But no, Lloyd would probably cast it aside as a bad dream and continue going.

Colette looked at her friend. He still had that painful look in his eye. Maybe it was a trick of the sun, but she thought she saw a few tears trickle down his face. At this point Colette felt a great rush of emotion for her friend. She stepped up in front of him and gave him a gigantic hug. Lloyd hugged back and even sobbed into her shoulder, muttering words like "all my fault...shouldn't have let him..." Colette just patted Lloyd's back, feeling her friend's warmth. They hugged for what seemed like hours, but was really only minutes. They finally broke apart and walked on. Lloyd still had a stony silence about him, but a new look entered his eyes: determination. That same look he had when fighting Mithos...

They arrived in Izoold about 2 in the afternoon. Lloyd had still had a defiant look of determination on his face. It was not long after they entered the city that they met two of their old companions: Regal and Presea.

"We don't have a choice Presea..."

"Yes we do. If that happened I would not forgive myself."

"Fine. But I'm going to have a hell of a time explaining to the board..."

Then they spotted them. Colette gasped and ran up to both of them and hugged them tight. Lloyd just remained rooted to the spot, looking happily at his friends. It had only been a few weeks since Lloyd last saw them, but it felt like a lifetime. He went up to Regal and shook his hand; his shackles had been mercifully taken from his hands.

"Lloyd," Regal began with a small smile on his face, "good to see you again."

"And you!" Lloyd replied with fake enthusiasm. He felt he should tell them about Kratos' death. He was, afterall, their companion too. "Listen, Kratos is..."

"Dead?"

Lloyd looked around, stunned. It was not Regal who had said it, but little Presea.

"It's okay, I already knew by the way you looked when I first saw you that he was dead or someone else was. I wore the same look of grief and determination after I learned my sister had died."

Lloyd just looked at Presea, a little stunned.

"You will meet his killer eventually, and you will get revenge," said Presea.

"Or you'll become one of their most trusted business partners," said Regal with a small smile.

Presea smiled a little. It was one of those rare occurences when she would smile, where Colette would consider her "Cute!" while Genis would stutter and blush while just looking at her.

"What were you two talking about just now?" Lloyd asked, being his usual curious self now.

"The destruction of Ozette," said Regal simply, "the whole village has taken so much damage that there is a threat that a land-slide could occur and crush anyone and anything in it's path."

"It may have scorned me as a child, but I still feel like it was my only home," Presea said a little sadly, "Regal has promised to let my house stay, but the emptiness from the surrounding areas would be too unfamiliar to me. I'm used to listening to the town as I fell asleep."

"Presea has an idea to restore Ozette, but the whole foundation would have to be rebuilt."

"What's wrong with that?" Lloyd asked akwardly.

"Building materials cost money, Lloyd," Regal said a little frustrated with Lloyd's usual all-around stupidness, "and the Board of Directors from the Lezerano company wouldn't be too happy with me spending more money, seeing as I spent a good deal of it destroying the exphere mine. Don't you remember how much money it took to restore Luin?"

"Yeah...well we were just on our way to Hiemdall," Lloyd said, "do you know where we could find a-"

"Way ahead of you Lloyd," Regal said smiling, "we took a company boat here, we can drop you off at Hiemdall after we're done here."

"Okay, thanks!" Lloyd said enthusiastically.

"Yes, thank you both so much!" Colette said to Regal and Presea.

"It's no problem really. We just need a night to arrange our plans. You two can stay at the inn." Regal said, his smile replaced by his usual businessman look.

"Okay. Just one question,"

"What would that be Lloyd?"

"You guys got food?"

Regal slapped his forehead in frustration, whilst Presea shook her head.

"Um, Lloyd?" Colette implied tentatively, "I'm sure they have food at the Inn"

"Great, I'm starving," Lloyd said simply and walked into the Inn, without a farewell to his old 2 friends.

"Hehe, sorry," Colette used her usually catch-phrase, "Lloyd's just a little exhausted."

"And hungry I imagine," Regal chuckled.

Colette giggled and bid her two friends farewell. Presea and Regal waved and continued their hushed discussion.

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Big big big BIG sorry to all those who have been waiting like a year for this to come out. I've been really busy lately. A person (forgot the name lol) got me to bring my writing spur back into existince.

Also, I know the end of this chapter was basically pointless, but it was just too good to pass up some humor in a gloomy fic. Don't worry, gloomy depressing stuff returns next chapter! Till then...

PeAcE!


	4. Departure

Chapter four people! If you haven't figured it out yet, Fallen Angel is an offshoot of this story. If you want the full details on how Kratos died, go read that. (No, seriously, go read it, it only has one review.)

Also, expect me to add to my humor fics soon. Snakes on a Rheiard might get a second chapter due to the success of the first chapter. Chapter 4 of Tales of SymPHONYa is already up. Please read it. It's good!

Well, enough of my crap. ON WITH DA SHOW. (If I ever spew those words again, please beat me with a mallet)

**Shadow ch. 4**

_It's finally going to begin…_

"Leave Lloyd alone!"

_Trust me; he'll be better off this way. He can carry on my dream…_

"NO," Colette yelled, "stop this!"

_HeheheeeHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!! _Came the insane laughter.

"Colette," came a familiar voice from far away.

"NO! Don't hurt him!" Colette thrashed around wildly.

"Ow! Quit it," said Lloyd, trying to wake Colette without getting his head torn off.

Colette woke and looked at Lloyd. She was sweaty and her heart was beating a mile a minute. Lloyd smiled, "Gotta watch out for those nightmares Colette," he said serenely, "they can be scary, but that's no reason to try and murder your friend."

"Oh," Colette had just noticed a cut on Lloyd's cheek, "sorry, Lloyd."

Lloyd sighed, "Stop apologizing all the time," came his usual response, "it's like a broken record."

Colette was about to say "sorry" but stopped herself.

Lloyd paused for a second. Apparently, he anticipated Colette's usual response, but was surprised to hear nothing come out of the blonde's mouth. _Weird_ he thought.

Over the past few days so much had happened so fast; Kratos dying, weird dreams, getting caught in a sandstorm so fierce it nearly blew them all the way back to Iselia, and only less than one-tenths of the expheres left being found. Not only that, but Lloyd seemed to be slowly losing his patience with everything, including his best friend Colette. One instance of this occurrence happened at the checkout counter.

"Sir, it says so on the bill, right here," the innkeeper said in a calm voice after arguing with Lloyd for about five minutes now, but Lloyd cut him off.

"I've TOLD you! We did not order heated blankets! What kind of crappy innkeeper ARE you!?"

"Lloyd, just let it-" Colette began.

"If I would have known we'd get this kind of crappy service, I would have stayed in the freaking DESERT!"

"Sir, either you pay the bill or I'm going to have to take some of your supplies."

"You won't take anything," said Lloyd about to draw his swords, "I've dueled men much better than you! You don't even know!" Lloyd's eyes started to water, so Colette pulled him aside, withdrawing his money-bag sneakily while doing so. Her former group didn't give her the nickname "Little Pickpocket" for nothing.

"I'm very sorry about that," Colette said apologetically to the innkeeper and handed him 900 gald, "something happened recently, and Lloyd's been on edge ever since."

"Just keep him out of trouble," the innkeeper said with a small crease in his forehead, taking the gald, "if he's that disturbed by it, he should learn to just get over it."

Luckily, Lloyd was out of earshot, but Colette shot the inkeeper a filthy look before exiting the inn herself. Like he knew Lloyd's pain.

Colette soon regretted not breaking up the fight earlier, as she knew the subject of Kratos was still sensitive in Lloyd's mind. She wisely kept her thoughts about Kratos' death to herself. The last thing she wanted to do was get into a fight with her best friend. When she left it was to find Lloyd standing with his back to the wall of the inn.

"Let's go," Lloyd said frustratingly as soon as he spotted Colette.

As they walked towards the docks where a small ship was parked, much to the chagrin of local boatmen, Lloyd took up the habit of running his hand through his hair, then scratching the side of his head. It wasn't really a bad habit, but a little unnerving nonetheless.

"Lloyd, Colette," Regal said, spotting them both as they neared the docks, "Are you ready, or do you need more time to prepare? There may be a monster or two at sea, and you may need extra supplies."

"It's okay Regal, we have enough," Colette said with a small smile, "Um…why are there monsters at sea? I thought all the monsters disappeared after Cruxis was destroyed."

"I'm talking of the monsters that nature has been so kind to give us," Regal said sarcastically, then added with a laugh, "and the monster of seasickness."

Colette giggled, but Lloyd just walked resolutely on to the ship, not saying a word but walking straight to the nearest door and walking in.

"Something happen in town?" Regal asked Colette with a grimace.

"Yes, Lloyd got into a fight with the innkeeper," Colette began, "It was over something really stupid, I don't even remember, but the subject of force-by-sword was mentioned, and Lloyd went on a bit of a rant how he has fought better men, and, well…"

"Yes, yes, I understand," Regal sighed, "But Lloyd must learn that not everybody will treat him like royalty now that his close relative died. I tried that route when Alicia died, and it ended with me in jail, and with no way to get her back. Thanks to Lloyd, I was able to conquer that state of mind. Now I think he should, how you say, 'Practice what he preaches.'"

"Try telling that to him," Colette said with a sullen look, "He won't listen to much of any advice these days. I tried talking to him last night, but he just fell asleep, disregarding all of my attempts to spark conversation."

"Well, it'll take a while," Regal said sagely while bringing up the anchor, "I suggest you pick a room and stick with it. With the widening of the ocean the time to get from here to the edge of the continent that now contains Hiemdall could be expected to be three or four days at most. Two and a half if the shipping lanes aren't busy."

Colette nodded and took the room next to Lloyd's own. Around the room were just the basic facilities: Bed, mirror, dresser, and a small latrine. Colette set her belongings on the bed, and, without warning, collapsed onto it and fell asleep. But we all know that sleep never bodes well for young Miss Colette these days…

There was a young girl, laying on the ground, her facial features being one of shock, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, her front caked in blood. "NO! Presea!"

_Isn't it marvelous? This little pest refused to take into her own hands the right to destroy her enemy. She will pay with her life…_

"NO! I won't let it happen!"

_YOU HAVE NO SAY IN THE MATTER YOU LITTLE TRAITOR! _

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Colette woke with cold sweat dripping from her face. From the clock on the wall, it was now 12:53 in the afternoon. One thing was for sure. To ensure Presea's safety, as well as her own, she would not sleep a wink tonight.

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Yeah. Once again, waiting a yearbad. I know. But I already have the next chapter planned out, and will begin work on it soon enough. (Seriously guys, go read Fallen Angel, and possibly the fourth chapter to Tales of SymPHONYa.)


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